1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flow improver for oils and fats for improving the flowability of oils and fats, when oils and fats are used as fuels.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the recent years, as environmental awareness is rising, fuels obtained from biological resources are being tried out for use. For example, ethanols obtained by fermenting whole grains such as field corn, and waste wood, and fatty acid methyl esters obtained by performing ester exchange of animal and vegetable oils and fats, are being examined.
On the other hand, in addition to fuels thus obtained by improving the quality of biological resources, animal and vegetable oils and fats themselves are being tried out for use as fuels for boilers, diesel engines, and heaters, and in order to enable their problem-free use as fuels, various studies for improving the flowability of oils and fats are being conducted. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a method of improving the quality of oils and fats by performing the ozone process and photo irradiation process to use them, and Patent Literature 2 describes a method of using hydrocarbon compositions obtained by hydrogen-treating the oils and fats, respectively. However, both the methods still have problems such as consumption of a large amount of energy in the quality-improvement process, or the need of equipment for improving the quality.
On the other hand, Patent Literature 3 describes a method of using an alkyl methacrylate polymer having a specific carbon chain length and molecular weight distribution as a flow improver of oils and fats. However, a sufficient improvement in the flowability cannot be achieved with this method, and thus the method is not satisfactory.